Rev.  Dr.  HOWARD  AGNEW  JOHNSTON’S 


SERMON  AT  THE  SEVENTY-SECOND  ANNIVERSARY 


OF  THB 


b’ 


% 


AMERICAN^  SEAMEN’S 


FRIEND  SOCIETY.  ^ 


ANNUAL  SERMON 


BEFORE  THE 


Pmepican  SeameR’S  P-pieRd  S®@ie6Y> 


AT  ITS 


SEVENTY-SECOND  ANNIVERSARY, 
Sunday,  May  6,  1900, 


BY  TUB 


Rev.  HOWARD  AGNEW  JOHNSTON,  D.D., 


IN  THE 


MADISON  AVENUE  PEESBYTERIAN  OHUROH,  NEW  YORK. 


AMERICAN  SEAMEN’S  FRIEND  SOCIETY, 
76  WALL  STREET,  NEW  YORK, 

1900. 


1828. 


1900. 


OFFICERS  : 


CHAS.  A.  STODDARD,  D.D.,  President. 
W.  C.  STITT,  D.D.,  Secretary. 

Rev.  Edward  B.  Coe,  D.D.,  LL.D., 


WM.  E.  STIGER,  Vice-President. 
WM.  C.  STDRGES,  Treasurer. 


C.  A.  Stoddard,  D.D., 

“ A.  G.  Vermilye,  D.D., 

“ Nomran  Fox,  D.D., 

“ John  Hopkins  Denison, 
Capt.  David  Gillespie, 

Wm.  C.  Stdrges, 


Trustees ; 

Enos  N.  Taft, 

Chas.  K.  Wallace, 

John  Dwight, 

Elbert  A.  Brinckerhoff, 
Frederick  Sturges, 

A.  G.  Agnew, 

Daniel  Barnes. 

Wm.  E.  Stiger, 


Samuel  Rowland, 

Geo.  Bell, 

W.  Hall  Ropes, 

Edgar  L.  Marston, 

John  E.  Leech, 

Lt.  Jerome  E.  Morse,  U.  S.  N, 
Frederick  T.  Sherman. 


There  are  about  three  million  seamen  afloat.  The  American 
Seamen’s  Friend  Society  aims  to  do  them  good. 

It  gives  annual  aid  to  chaplains  laboring  in  their  behalf,  in  19  for- 
eign and  17  domestic  ports. 

It  places  loan  libraries  for  seamen’s  use  on  American  vessels  leaving 
the  port  of  New  York.  Up  to  April  1,  1900,  10,717  libraries  have 
been  sent  to  sea;  12,672  reshipments,  or  about  two  libraries  for  every 
working  day  for  forty-two  years. 

It  provides  a Sailors’  Home  at  190  Cherry  Street,  New  York,  where 
seamen  can  board  and  be  comparatively  protected  from  vicious  sur- 
roundings, and  where  shipwrecked  and  destitute  sailors  are  cared  for. 

It  publishes  the  Sailors’  Magazine  for  the  friends  of  seamen, 
the  Life  Boat  for  Sunday  Schools  that  give  120  for  a loan  library, 
and  the  Seamen’s  Friend  for  seamen. 

It  distributes  on  vessels  the  publications  of  the  American  Bible 
Society  and  the  American  Tract  Society. 

Through  its  agents  and  efforts  sailors  are  befriended,  helped  and 
blessed.  The  record  of  its  work  in  all  the  years  of  its  existence  has 
cheered  both  the  philanthropist  and  Christian. 

Sample  copies  of  the  Sailors’  Magazine  (one  dollar  per  annum) 
and  copies  of  the  Annual  Report  sent  free  to  any  address. 

Churches  are  requested  to  take  an  annual  collection  for  this  work, 
and  to  send  it  to  the  Treasurer,  at  No.  76  Wall  Street,  New  York. 
Publications  containing  facts  for  sermons  will  be  sent  to  pastors  on 
application.  Annual  contributions  from  individuals  are  solicited  and 
legacies  in  wills. 


SERMON. 


Which  hope  we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and  steadfast,  and  which 
entereth  into  that  within  the  veil. — Hebrew  vi:  10 

Just  two  years  ago  this  nation,  suddenly,  unexpectedly,  leaped  into 
the  place  of  a great  world  power.  The  achievement  which  brought  us 
this  condition  was  the  victory  at  Manila  Bay.  A few  days  later  the 
West  Indies  witnessed  another  victory  of  our  arms,  and  the  world 
realized  that  the  concert  of  Europe  must  reckon  with  the  United 
States  of  America.  Now  the  result  which  immediately  followed  was 
a widespread  interest  in  our  equipment  as  a naval  power.  Leagues  of 
ocean  had  come  into  the  track  of  our  empire,  and  we  must  meet  the 
problem  of  enlarged  shipping  facilities,  enlarged  naval  outfit,  enlarged 
instruments  necessary  for  mastery  in  the  realms  of  commerce  and. 
government.  In  the  nature  of  things  every  institution  which  has  for 
its  object  the  welfare  of  the  men  who  travel  on  the  sea  has  come  into 
a place  of  larger  importance  than  it  occupied  before.  All  the  prob- 
lems which  we  have  found  confronting  us  involve  the  men  who  man 
our  ships,  our  transports,  our  great  battle- ships,  and  all  the  small 
craft  of  every  sort.  We  have  one  of  these  institutions  represented 
here  to-day.  The  American  Seamen’s  Friend  Society  has  entered 
its  seventy-second  year  of  service  in  this  sphere  of  helpfulness.  The 
importance  of  its  work  is  greater  to-day  than  it  has  ever  been.  Any 
scheme  which  Christian  people  may  encourage  and  help  with  the  hope 
that  it  will  tend  to  uplift  this  world  of  ours  to  the  level  of  a Christian 
civilization  must  take  into  account  the  men  who  bind  the  ends  of  the 
earth  together  as  they  travel  hither  and  thither,  touching  the  ports  of 
the  world.  For  this  purpose  this  Society  is  organized.  It  strives  to 
help  those  men  who  are  beyond  the  reach  of  the  churches  as  such,  by 
serving  as  an  arm  of  the  Church,  throwing  about  them  the  helpful 
influences  of  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  ultimate  aim  of  this  Society  has  suggested  to  me  the  text 
which  I have  chosen  to-day.  It  is  to  guide  every  man  whom  it  may 


4 


influence  to  that  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  which  will  secure  unto 
him  that  anchor  of  the  soul,  the  hope  of  everlasting  life  through  the 
atoning  work  of  Christ  the  Saviour.  To  this  theme,  therefore,  I ask 
your  attention.  There  is  a mixing  of  figures  in  the  two  images  com- 
bined in  the  passage,  but  none  the  less  vivid  is  the  eternal  truth  which 
shines  in  them  with  richness  and  beauty,  like  gems  in  the  setting  of 
a precious  thought.  In  the  first  figure  the  soul  is  the  ship,  the  world 
the  sea,  the  eternal  happiness  of  the  redeemed  the  haven  toward 
which  the  vessel  is  bound.  Hope  is  the  anchor  of  the  ship,  while  the 
encouraging  consolation,  through  the  promise  and  confirmation  of 
the  living  God,  is  the  cable  which  holds  the  ship  to  the  anchor.  The 
second  figure  is  drawn  from  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  with  its  courts 
and  holy  sanctuary.  This  world  is  the  fore-court,  and  heaven  the 
holy  of  holies,  whither  Christ  the  High  Priest  has  gone  before  us,  that 
we  may  follow  in  that  new  and  living  way  which  He  hath  consecrated 
with  His  own  blood,  which  entereth  within  the  veil.  The  one  touch 
of  inspiration  completes  for  us  thus  the  necessary  complement  of  anchor 
and  anchorage.  The  one  is  the  Christian  hope,  the  other  is  the  Chris- 
tian’s glorified  Kedeemer,  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God, 
ever  living  to  make  intercession  for  us. 

This  expression  “the  veil ’’should  hold  our  attention  for  a mo- 
ment. It  indicates  that  which  is  hidden  from  the  mortal  eye,  yet  it 
also  tells  us  of  the  very  nearness  of  that  which  is  unseen.  The  veil 
which  separates  the  soul  from  the  life  beyond  is  the  condition  which 
marks  our  limitations  in  this  body  of  flesh.  How  thin  and  frail  is 
the  partition  of  a veil ! Though  its  tissue  be  fine,  and  its  fabric 
delicate,  the  breezes  waft  it,  the  touch  of  a child  may  rend  it,  the 
silent  action  of  time  will  moulder  it  away.  So  is  it  with  this  earthly 
habitation  of  our  souls.  Though  wonderfully  and  fearfully  made,  it 
is  wrought  out  of  frail  mortality.  In  a bound,  in  a twinkling  of  the 
eye,  in  the  throb  of  a pulse,  in  the  flash  of  a thought,  we  may  pass 
into  the  immortal  and  eternal.  Death  is  but  the  drawing  aside  of 
the  veil.  We  step  within  and  the  places  which  once  knew  us  know 
us  no  more.  The  splendors  of  the  eternal  world  burst  upon  us  ; we 
peer  into  the  mysteries  which  the  mortal  could  not  comprehend,  and 
take  our  inevitable  stand  at  the  judgment  bar  of  God.  It  is  only  a 
step  between  the  two  parts  of  the  one  life.  It  is  only  a veil  between 
us  and  the  eternal  destiny  of  our  immortal  souls. 

No  thoughtful  man  can  ponder  such  truth  as  this  without  raising 


5 


the  queation : “How  is  it  faring  with  my  sonl?”  The  text  is  the 
Christian’s  answer  to  that  question.  It  breathes  a conhdence  concern- 
ing the  future  which  arrests  the  attention.  And  the  query  naturally 
arises:  “What  is  the  explanation  of  such  conddence  as  this  in  the 
human  heart?”  That  explanation  is  found  in  the  second  figure  in 
the  text.  The  Christian’s  anchor  takes  on  meaning  in  view  of  his 
anchorage.  Now  this  means  that  the  mere  element  of  hope  in  the 
human  heart  is  not  enough  for  our  salvation.  The  character  of  that 
hope,  the  object  of  that  hope  must  be  taken  into  account.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  overrate  the  importance  of  the  place  of  hope  in  human 
life.  Every  clime  and  country,  every  age  of  the  world,  every  condi- 
tion of  society,  every  individual  soul,  has  known  the  meaning  of  that 
precious  presence.  It  cheers  us  alike  in  the  morning  and  noon  and 
closing  hours  of  earth’s  day.  It  builds  castles  upon  a promise,  sug- 
gests a remedy  for  every  evil,  plans  a way  of  escape  for  every  danger, 
imagines  a surcease  for  every  sorrow.  Hope  gives  strength  to  the 
weary,  courage  to  the  despondent,  joy  to  the  desolate,  life  to  the 
dying,  and  upon  the  tombs  of  those  whose  departure  we  mourn  it  hangs 
the  unfading  garland  of  a blessed  immortality.  And  so  it  is  true  that 
in  varying  degrees  this  blessed  boon  is  universal  property. 

And  yet  the  writer  of  this  epistle  evidently  meant  to  claim  that  the 
Christian’s  hope  possesses  a peculiar  quality  which  lifts  it  above  the 
ordinary  hopes  common  to  all  men.  When  the  apostle  Paul  speaks  of 
some  men  being  “without  hope  and  without  God  in  the  world,”  he 
evidently  means  to  say  theirs  is  not  an  abiding  hope.  And  the  teach- 
ing is  clear  that  the  reason  the  Christian’s  hope  is  of  supreme  value  is 
because  it  anchors  the  soul  in  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  brought  life  and 
immortality  to  light,  who  links  the  life  of  earth  on  to  the  life  of 
heaven,  and  lifts  the  redeemed  into  the  peace  of  God  now  and  for- 
evermore. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  at  this  time  to  argue  the  validity  of  this  claim 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  world’s  only  Saviour.  The  text  is  not  in- 
tended so  much  to  be  an  argument,  as  it  is  meant  to  be  a testimony. 
The  writer  is  speaking  out  of  an  experience  in  which  he  has  found 
Christ’s  salvation.  The  figure  in  the  text  involves  the  truth  that  this 
life  is  one  fraught  with  storms  and  breakers.  That  was  the  situation 
among  the  people  to  whom  this  epistle  was  written.  They  were  in 
the  midst  of  persecution  because  of  their  faith,  and  their  lives  were 
marked  by  hardships  and  privations  and  disappointments.  The 


6 


writer  was  seeking  to  help  them  to  be  strong  in  the  midst  of  these 
conditions,  and  his  words  apply  as  aptly  to  us  to-day.  There  come 
billows  of  sorrow  and  misfortune,  breakers  of  disappointment  and 
discontent,  blasts  of  sin,  winds  of  temptation,  like  the  resistless  sweep 
of  a hurricane,  like  the  scorching  breath  of  a sirrocco  from  an  arid 
desert,  in  whose  path  are  the  marks  of  desolation  and  death.  And 
this  text  is  a testimony  which  breathes  the  actual  experience  of  souls 
that  have  found  their  hope  in  God  through  Jesus  Christ  to  be  a suffi- 
cient anchor  to  hold  them  through  the  fiercest  storms,  holding  them 
in  the  night  of  sorrow  until  the  break  of  day,  holding  them  through 
a struggle  against  sin  until  the  tempter  has  been  conquered,  holding 
them  even  when  they  forget  their  anchor  in  the  stress  of  the  tempest, 
until  they  realize  in  time  that  it  was  this  that  sustained  them  through 
it  all.  This  is  the  actual  experience  of  many  a soul,  and  this  one  in- 
controvertible fact  is  worth  a thousand  theories. 

And  the  text  means  to  teach  that  some  people  have  this  hope  in 
Christ  while  others  do  not.  Have  you  never  seen  these  two  classes  of 
people  ? For  two  years  of  my  college  days  I was  a member  of  the  jail 
committte  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  and  I have 
sat  beside  the  prisoner  on  his  little  iron  bed,  when  his  life  has  been 
clouded  in  the  gloom  of  unmistakable  despair.  Eemorse  was  biting 
back  into  his  soul,  and  he  grasped  like  a drowning  man  at  a straw, 
crying  for  light  in  the  darkness.  He  had  no  faith  which  laid  hold  on 
God  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  loving  Father  who  will  forgive  the  sins  of 
penitent  men,  and  not  having  that  he  was  without  hope  and  without 
God  in  the  world.  Moreover,  the  saddest  fact  about  such  a condition 
of  life  is  that  it  may  be  too  late  to  bring  help  to  such  a soul.  And 
that  fact  leads  me  to  emphasize  the  truth  that  the  time  to  get  your 
anchor  is  before  the  storm  comes.  I once  stood  beside  the  bed  of  a 
dying  woman,  who  had  suffered  as  few  mortals  are  called  upon  to  suf- 
fer, and  she  whispered  to  me  out  of  her  agony  : “ Tell  the  people  to 
make  sure  of  their  faith  in  God  before  their  time  of  trial  comes.”  Ah, 
yes ! After  the  storm  is  upon  you  there  is  no  condition  of  heart  or 
mind  susceptible  to  the  truth.  There  is  a bitterness  of  heart  which 
rebels  at  discipline.  There  is  a nourishing  of  doubt  which  often 
makes  prayer  impossible  to  the  soul  that  has  not  already  learned  to 
pray.  The  time  to  secure  your  anchor  is  before  your  storm  comes. 

For  I have  also  seen  those  who  have  gone  through  the  storm  held  by 
this  blessed  anchor  of  hope  in  God  through  Jesus  Christ.  I have  never 


7 


seen  one  of  them  come  through  unscathed.  No,  not  that ; they  have 
been  maimed  or  wounded  or  bleeding ; but  I have  seen  them  coming 
out  of  the  hour  of  grief  that  benumbs  the  heart,  sustained  by  a vision 
of  glory ; coming  out  of  the  hour  of  temptation  and  conscious  sin 
with  repentance,  clinging  to  the  promise  of  God  for  cleansing  and 
finding  peace  ; coming  out  of  the  hour  of  disappointment  and  learning 
to  spell  it  with  a capital  II,  and  making  it  “His  appointment.”  I 
have  seen  them  coming  with  songs  of  deliverance  upon  their  lips  and 
with  the  joy  of  victory  in  their  souls.  And  do  you  wonder  that  their 
hope  in  God  grows  brighter  with  the  years  ? Do  you  wonder  that  as 
they  prove  its  helpfulness,  its  comfort,  its  transforming  power,  they 
learn  to  fix  their  trust  in  God,  and  to  say  with  the  apostle,  “We  are 
saved  by  hope  ” ? And  do  you  wonder  that  they  learn  to  build  char- 
acter not  simply  for  time,  but  for  the  eternal  years  ? The  eye  of  faith 
sees  a vision  yonder  within  the  veil,  and  as  we  learn  to  hope  in  Christ 
for  daily  help  here  and  now,  we  learn  to  repeat  those  other  words  of 
Paul,  “ Christ  in  you  is  the  hope  of  glory.” 

Oh,  friends,  have  you  made  sure  of  this  anchor  of  hope  ? I beg  of 
you  to  see  to  it  while  it  is  yet  a day  of  opportunity.  Do  not  make  the 
fatal  mistake  of  waiting  until  the  storm  overtakes  you.  Is  it  not 
strange  that  so  many  will  allow  the  years  to  slip  by  without  giving 
earnest  heed  to  this  vital  problem  of  the  anchor  for  the  soul  ? Would 
you  go  to  sea  on  a ship  which  had  no  anchor  ? No,  you  would  say 
that  although  it  may  ride  the  ocean  as  a thing  of  life,  though  it  may 
carry  its  full  quota  of  cargo,  yet  the  day  of  storm  will  surely  come, 
and  there  are  breakers  on  every  coast,  and  while  for  many  days  you 
might  go  on  as  well  as  any  other  ship,  when  the  storm  actually  comes 
the  end  will  be  shipwreck.  Yet  thousands  of  men  to-day  are  like  so 
many  ships  without  anchors,  because  they  have  never  fixed  their  hope 
in  Christ.  Is  it  because  you  have  never  yet  experienced  a storm  of 
such  severity  as  to  sober  your  thought  and  quicken  your  sense  of 
need  ? Then  be  sure  the  day  of  testing  will  yet  come,  the  tempest 
which  will  stir  the  troubled  waters  to  such  depths  as  you  have  never 
known.  If  not  before,  that  hour  will  come  when  the  shadow  of  death 
falls.  And  believe  me,  nothing  but  the  redemption  which  is  in  Jesus 
Christ  will  be  the  suflScient  anchor  to  your  soul  in  that  day.  But 
that  is  sufficient,  and  that  is  for  you,  if  you  will  take  it  at  the  hand 
of  God.  I beg  of  you  to  take  Christ  to-day,  if  you  have  never  yet 
trusted  Him  as  your  Saviour,  and  give  your  life  to  Him  as  your  Lord 
and  Master. 


8 


You  know  that  our  great  ships  have  a number  of  anchors,  but  the 
largest  and  best  is  the  sheet  anchor.  Its  strength  combines  that  of 
all  the  rest.  It  sinks  deeper  than  any  other.  It  is  the  hope  of  the 
ship.  Many  ordinary  duties  will  be  performed  by  smaller  auchors, 
but  one  day  there  comes  a demand  which  nothing  else  can  meet.  The 
days  of  smooth  sailing  are  gone.  Threatening  clouds  begin  to  hover 
ominously  on  the  horizon,  and  the  low  rumbling  of  distant  thunder 
sends  warning  of  the  tempest.  The  laughing  waves  at  first  give  no 
sign  of  danger,  but  ere  long  they  are  running  high,  and  the  great 
ship  is  tossed  from  trough  to  crest,  like  the  foam  which  the  furious 
sea  is  lashing  about  it,  and  the  storm  is  on.  Black  night  sweeps  down 
and  blots  out  sun  and  stars  from  the  heavens,  and  the  ship  is  driven 
at  the  mercy  of  the  tempest.  Anxious  hearts  long  for  the  dawn,  but 
with  the  first  gray  streaks  upon  the  eastern  sky  there  comes  a sound 
more  terrible  than  the  pealing  thunder.  It  is  the  roar  of  distant 
breakers  toward  which  the  ship  is  being  driven.  With  painful  heart- 
throbbings  the  soundings  are  made  until  the  lengths  of  the  cable 
chains  are  reached.  The  stream  anchor  is  lowered,  but  snaps  like 
thread.  Little  bow  anchor,  great  bow  are  gone.  One  hope  remains, 
and  the  command  rings  out,  “ Let  go  the  sheet  anchor  ! ” Out  it  falls 
limp  and  listless.  It  strikes  ! The  stiffening  links  stand  out  like  a 
bar  of  steel  1 Will  it  hold  ? That  is  the  one  anxious  thought.  The 
mad  waves  leap  up  as  in  a seething  caldron,  the  mighty  timbers  creak 
and  groan  in  the  fearful  struggle  : but  the  sheet  anchor  grips  the 
eternal  rock  and  holds  sure  aud  steadfast,  and  the  ship  is  saved  ! 

Oh,  friends,  did  you  see  in  that  picture  the  struggle  of  a storm-tossed 
soul  ? No  pencil  or  brush  could  reproduce  the  struggle  of  a storm- 
tossed  soul  as  it  approaches  the  breakers.  But  in  that  struggle  there 
is  one  sure  salvation.  It  is  the  sheet-anchor  of  hope  that  is  fixed  in 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Eock  of  Ages,  the  Saviour  of  the  soul  unto  God. 


